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How often do you use a pick?
- Thread starter Greenman72
- Start date
On several tunes, or when i need to boost my sound on a particular moment of tunes. Inspired by Anthony Jackson pick using. Except i don't put it between my teeth when I don't use it: I've glued a little magnet on the neck side and found out picks loaded with magnets and/or metal ring to stick it to the neck magnet. With a little practice time, as easy as switch a pedal ON.
I've been trying to play with a pick the past few years as I believe it's best to know both pick and fingerstyle. But I totally suck eggs at it and get discouraged. BAH!
It gets a very particular tone, and since it's a different technique than finger plucking, I try to practice it in equal amounts.
i voted, "i use a pick every once in a while. maybe 5-10% of the time," although it's probably <1% of the time: studio/recording settings for effect.
not gonna lie = i'd use a pick more frequently if i was better at using it.
i only want to play 'pick' like bobby vega! 
not gonna lie = i'd use a pick more frequently if i was better at using it.
i only want to play 'pick' like bobby vega! 
I have no opposition to using picks. I just never use them.
Patience, my friend -- patience. After playing for many years fingerstyle only, I decided one day to try to learn to use a pick. I dabbled at it for a few days, got frustrated, and gave up. A few months later I'd try again, and the story was the same. Rinse and repeat for about five years. Eventually I got tired of this cycle and decided to really commit to it, and not give up when I got frustrated. It took me a few months of dedicated practice to get reasonably comfortable with the pick, and it wasn't always fun, but I'm glad I did. I'm sure you can do it to if you just commit to it.
To answer the original question, I now play with a pick about half the time on average, though some nights I hardly ever pull out the pick and on other nights hardly ever put it down. I have a few songs that I generally prefer the pick for, but mostly I just decide based on how I feel at the moment.
A lot of the time when writing a song I will start with a pick to hear the definition a bit more and then switch to fingers if it suits the song more than a pick. My phrasing is different with a pick than fingers and that makes a bigger difference than the attack in the final song. I also have a collection of felt, rubber, and leather picks to get closer to the finger sound and keep the pick phrasing. But it's still fingers 90% of the time.
They are fun sometimes but I chronically lose my picks so I end up using fingerstyle instead.
I’m using them more and more lately.
I play in a lot of different styles and the harder rock stuff sounds great with a pick. I foolishly turned my nose up at using a pick for many years and now I find myself playing catch-up to develop my skills using a pick. As I get more comfortable with it I’ve been adding it more and more over the last year or so.
I play in a lot of different styles and the harder rock stuff sounds great with a pick. I foolishly turned my nose up at using a pick for many years and now I find myself playing catch-up to develop my skills using a pick. As I get more comfortable with it I’ve been adding it more and more over the last year or so.
It's entirely song dependent, whatever the song calls for. 5-10% of the time. There are some songs that just really sound right with a pick, and don't sound right without it.
Since guitar was my first instrument it wasn't something I necessarily had to get used to. I like being able to use both. It's also good to know if I, like, injure a plucking finger I can use a pick in a pinch. And vice-versa, if I don't have a pick I can pluck.
Since guitar was my first instrument it wasn't something I necessarily had to get used to. I like being able to use both. It's also good to know if I, like, injure a plucking finger I can use a pick in a pinch. And vice-versa, if I don't have a pick I can pluck.
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One of the reasons I was excited about joining a Tool tribute band was to get better at using a pick. Since then (joined around 2016), I've definitely gotten more comfortable with it. I still prefer fingers by a long shot, but sometimes a pick just has that particular tone that you need for a song.
I have advancing thumb joint arthritis that makes fingerstyle increasingly painful, so I"m more like 98% pick now. For some reason the "pinch" motion of holding a pick doesn't bother me, yet anyway. I'm a Ric player, so pick is kind of inherent to that tone anyway. I neglected pick for a long time, gradually getting back some chops with one, realizing the type and stiffness of pick makes a BIG difference in tone and technique.
On all instruments that I play during any given gig, my rule of thumb is "whatever suits the song".
We do a lot of covers, and maybe 20% original songs, but I do like to try and make things sound like the original recording (or radio hits) as much as possible.
Drums? Digital drums make it easy to dial in a kit with the right tones and tibres.
I literally spent days one time, hunting down the right cowbell for a key section of a Steeler's Wheel song, Stuck In The Middle With You.
Guitar, I'll use a Fender for certain songs, and a Gibson for others, just to get it right.
Just the proper amount of distortion or palm muting, to make it spot on correct.
Bass is maybe even more important.
A lot of songs require picking, others the fingers, and yet others still some combination of pick, thumb, and fingers.
Old people high school reunions are real money makers, more so than bar gigs or open air sports festivals.
I love to bring them songs that sound like we just dropped the needle on that old album on the turntable.
We do a lot of covers, and maybe 20% original songs, but I do like to try and make things sound like the original recording (or radio hits) as much as possible.
Drums? Digital drums make it easy to dial in a kit with the right tones and tibres.
I literally spent days one time, hunting down the right cowbell for a key section of a Steeler's Wheel song, Stuck In The Middle With You.
Guitar, I'll use a Fender for certain songs, and a Gibson for others, just to get it right.
Just the proper amount of distortion or palm muting, to make it spot on correct.
Bass is maybe even more important.
A lot of songs require picking, others the fingers, and yet others still some combination of pick, thumb, and fingers.
Old people high school reunions are real money makers, more so than bar gigs or open air sports festivals.
I love to bring them songs that sound like we just dropped the needle on that old album on the turntable.
In my typical gigging and recording situations, which skew heavily toward rock and metal, I tend to be around 50/50 pick and fingers. At home I'm probably more like 75% fingerstyle.
20-30% as the song requires.
I play a passive P bass with rounds. I use the pick when need a tone/ EQ change.
I play a passive P bass with rounds. I use the pick when need a tone/ EQ change.
In my bag of cables and other assorted stuff, I have been carrying picks to weekly gigs for the last decade. So far, I have given a few picks to guitarists who forgot theirs, but I haven’t played with one. I have a well practiced techniques for bouncing the strings off the frets to get some nice attack when needed, so it never seems to come up as a needed skill
If the song was originally recorded using a pick, I'm likely to also use a pick for performing that song. How often do I use a pick? It depends completely on the songs I'm playing, and what band/situation I'm playing in.
